Darkly comic and tragic ... Playfully experimental ... Flitting between the story lines of the two writers in pithy and punchy chapters, often with revelatory endings.
Riveting ... A hugely ambitious book. It takes big swings at topics many people like us are struggling to understand. It doesn’t always connect, but that barely matters in a work that insists we must keep trying to put together words that help each other make sense of the world.
Humorous one moment and tugs at the right heartstrings the next ... This roller coaster ride filled with quips and wordplay personalizes some of the most tragic moments in America’s recent history ... Filled with highlightable quotes and moments that make you stop and look around to see if anyone else is experiencing what you’re reading, Mott’s People Like Us echoes the pain and mystery of where life leads.
Mott’s writing is funny, intelligent, and sharp as a knife ... The language is high-energy and dazzling, like a New Year’s Eve party ... the characters have conversations that deliver profound meditations on race, belonging, grief, and the meaning of home, though there’s plenty to lighten the mood ... Full of action, suspense, and laughs. Its reflections about being a Black American in Europe are insightful. Jump in for a full-force, visceral ride.
Painfully funny and justifiably scathing ... Racism, active shooter drills, disaffected expatriates--they're all here, along with trenchant commentary on the United States. Solace is scarce in this bracing novel, but those who feel they don't belong anywhere will find plenty of commiseration
Self-conscious, deliberate, and determined ... Through witty one-liners, sharp observations, and bold humor, People like Us innovatively carves a space on the shelf of hard-to-define books ... At times, it even feels whimsical, both in the entertaining, playful adventuring to new places and in the affective, dewy-eyed hope for a better world. A dynamic text moving faster than the pages turn, this is a novel true to our time’s search for a path forward—one that even dares to dream of togetherness.
Mott’s creative applications of the phrase lay bare the reality of racialized 'othering,' while also revealing the extent to which community can be a source of comfort and hope ... Somehow, amid the weightiness of the novel, Mott inserts just enough humor to bring each character alive.
A book that begs for an immediate reread, People Like Us hits the soul hard. It is haunting, vivid literary fiction at its finest.
A meta-novel that stings and touches the reader ... Impudent humor, dark farce, and the looming threat of violence somehow merge in jittery tandem ... The whole book seems the literary equivalent of a post-bop jazz performance, with oblique happenings that compel attention because of the book’s antic energy and lyrical passages.
The novel’s mischievous humor gradually gives way to a frightening fever dream. Mott’s satire is thoroughly uncompromising, which makes it all the more refreshing.
